Trail of suspicion leads from Lode to N.Y.

WATERLOO, N.Y. - The more Cindy Karlsen learned about her husband, Karl, the more suspicious she became.

Staff and wire reports

WATERLOO, N.Y. - The more Cindy Karlsen learned about her husband, Karl, the more suspicious she became.

There was the $700,000 life insurance payout he received after the 2008 death of his adult son, who was crushed when the pickup truck he was working under suddenly slipped off its jackin upstate New York. There was the $200,000 life insurance payout he received when his first wife died in a house fire nearly 2,500 miles away in Murphys nearly two decades earlier. And finally for Cindy Karlsen, there was the $1.2 million policy that her husband had taken out on her life.

That's what prompted her to work with Waterloo, N.Y., police, leading to second-degree murder and insurance fraud charges against Karl Karlsen in the death of his 23-year-old son, Levi. Prompted by the New York case against Karlsen, authorities in Calaveras County are now taking a new look at the circumstances of the 1991 death of his former wife, Christina Karlsen.

Christina Karlsen died on New Year's Day 1991 in a fire at the Murphys home she shared with Karl Karlsen and their children, including Levi.

Calaveras County Deputy District Attorney Jeff Stone confirmed Monday that prosecutors here are still gathering information on the 1991 death of Christina Karlsen.

"We are continuing to try to piece together the information that is available from back then and try to determine whether we would be considering any charges out here from that event," Stone said. "We have met with the family."

"I think it's a very greedy man with a very cold heart," said Art Alexander of Murphys, Christina Karlsen's father. Alexander, who has long suspected that his son-in-law and former business partner was responsible for his 30-year-old daughter's death.

Christina, Alexander was told, was trapped in the bathroom after spilled kerosene was ignited by a faulty electric light. Although Karl Karlsen is credited with getting Levi and their other two children out safely, Christina was unable to escape.

The insurance policy, Art Alexander said, had been taken out just before Christmas. The fire happened New Year's Day. Karl Karlsen's abrupt move to New York further stoked the father's suspicions.

Alexander was relieved to learn the 1991 fire was getting a second look: "I thought they would never catch up with him."